Given
Barry's frequent appearances in Rolling Stone I figured this article
should have a theme song. With my apoligies to Shel Silverstein and Dr.
Hook...

I'm a Harvard ringer, attached to golden string'ers
And they're pulled by G. Soros
I preach about Change and I preach about Hope
While the debt, it does explode
I pass Healthcare bills
that excite the shills
But the thrill that never gets old
Is the thrill that'll get ya, when the shills put my picture
On the cover of the Rolling Stone

(refrain)

Rolling Stone
Gonna see my picture on the cover
Rolling Stone
Gonna charge five copies to another
Rolling Stone
Gonna see my smilin' face
On the cover of the Rolling Stone
I got a freaky First Lady with the class of Slim Shady
Who tells us what to eat
I got my grey haired Muslim step-daddy
Fryin' fido meat
Now it's all designed to sway weak minds
But their minds won't really get swayed
Like the sway that'll get ya when I get my picture
On the cover of the Rolling Stone
(refrain)

I've got a lot of usefull idiots
That'll do anything I say
And a genuine racist preacher
Teaching us the commie way
I've got all the fools that your money can buy
Even Alinsky and Dohrn
My cronies keep gettin' richer and I get my picture
On the cover of the Rolling Stone
(refrain)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

The next time someone like the NDP's Pat Martin or the Liberal's Bob Rae decry "American Style" dirty tricks you may want to consider what this actually means.

Case in point, the brouhaha surrounding comments Rush Limbaugh made about 30 yr. old student/activist Sandra Fluke. Those of you familiar with the American political scene will already know about the controversy which ensued when Limbaugh called Fluke a slut and a whore for her position on federally mandated birth control coverage by Catholic institutions.

I have no interest in debating this issue here and now but raise it to illustrate a point. And that point is the organized response of the left that seeks to make political hay of the controversy Limbaugh finds swirling around him. It seems that robocalls are a prominent aspect of the left's counter attack.

An excerpt;

A group calling itself "The Women of the 99 Percent" is
making robocalls across the United States in an attempt to link
Republican members of the House of Representatives to "the war on women
led by Rush Limbaugh".The automated calls are illegal because they do not state who they
are from (there is no known group called The Women of the 99 Percent) or
provide a callback number, as required under the US Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.Using the Left-wing "Occupy" terminology of the 99 percent versus the
one percent, they appear to be the most aggressive attempt yet by
Democrats to exploit politically the recent furore over comments by the
controversial conservative radio talk show host.

Please note the illegality of these robocalls, oweing to the fact that they do not identify who is behind them.

It seems the Conservatives were not the only campaign using robocalls
in the race for Guelph, eventually won by Liberal, Frank Valeriotte.A former provincial Progressive Conservative candidate, Greg Schirk,
who lives in the city, has discovered a call made to his home on the
Saturday night before the election that does not, in apparent
contravention of the Elections Act, state clearly on whose behalf it was
made.The robo-caller identifies herself as Lori or Laurie McDonald of
Guelph and says she is appalled by Mr. Burke’s beliefs on women’s
rights. “Conservative candidate Marty Burke believes that under no
circumstances should a woman have a right to choose…. The race in Guelph
is very close — vote strategically on Monday to protect our rights from
Marty Burke and his extreme views.”

And this;

UPDATE: Frank Valeriotte, Liberal MP for Guelph, has responded:
“This was an issue based call, not a voter suppression call. It was paid for by our campaign.”
He said the fact it was not identified as coming from the Liberal
Party was an “oversight” and that his office had been “completely open”
with Elections Canada.

So to recap. Our friends on the left, both north and south of the longest undefended border in the world, seem to have a penchant for raising inflamatory social issues in contravention of campaign laws. Specifically, failing to identify who is behind the smears.

One could make the case that the illegal robocalls now happening in the U.S. were inspired by "Canadian Style" dirty tricks.

Monday, February 20, 2012

These have got to be tough times for the leader and sole sitting MP of the Green Party of Canada. As a one issue party with a caucus of one it can't be good when your cause dissipates like so much hot air. The hysteria over Anthropogenic Global Warming has been on the decline for years but recent developments must be especially disheartening for the climate alarmism industry.

Case in point, this recent missive from the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit and Met Office in the UK. I will also add that the CRU was the organization at the center of the climategate e-mail scandal wherein all manner of dirty tricks and junk science were exposed.

The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years.

The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century.

Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.

So, based on actual observed data, global warming ceased in 1997. No wonder the Met and CRU released this report "without fanfare".

As if that wasn't bad enough news for a Canadian environmental warrior, there is this;

One of the world’s top climate scientists has calculated that emissions from Alberta’s oilsands are unlikely to make a big difference to global warming and that the real threat to the planet comes from burning coal.

“I was surprised by the results of our analysis,” said Andrew Weaver, a University of Victoria climate modeller, who has been a lead author on two reports from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “I thought (the threat of oilsands emissions) was larger than it was.”

In a commentary published Sunday in the prestigious journal Nature, Weaver and colleague Neil Stewart analyze how burning all global stocks of coal, oil and natural gas would affect temperatures. Their analysis breaks out unconventional gas, such as undersea methane hydrates and shale gas produced by fracking, as well as unconventional oil sources including the oilsands.

They found that if all the hydrocarbons in the oilsands were mined and consumed, the carbon dioxide released would raise global temperatures by about 0.36C. That’s about half the total amount of warming over the last century.

When only commercially viable oilsands deposits are considered, the temperature increase is only 0.03C.

It now seems that many of those who most loudly beat the AGW drums are now backing away from their specious claims. The world has not warmed in the past 15 years and even if it did the Alberta Oilsands are all but inconsequential in the bigger picture.

As the renowned philosopher, Kermit the Frog once said, "It's not easy being green."

Update:

Just to underscore the problem Andrew Weaver's downplaying of the impact of Alberta Oilsands on AGW presents Elizabeth May, check out the links Here, here, here, here and here. Over the years Elizabeth and Andrew have been practically joined at the hip.

ThisNP editorial from a year ago also provides some insight into Andrew Weaver's possible motivation for backing away from warmist hysteria.

At the end of the day I suspect Elizabeth will do the only thing she can, tear out the goalpost and run like hell.